The present invention relates to a method of knitting knitwear whose sleeves and body are joined by using a flat knitting machine.
The knitting method of joining together knitted fabrics knitted in different regions on the flat knitting machine in the course of the knitting process can eliminate or simplify the tail end sewing process. The application of this knitting method to the knitting of sweater and the like enables the knitting of knitwear which is called a non-sewing knitted fabric.
When sweater is knitted in the form of the non-sewing knitted fabric, the front and back bodies are knitted into a tubular body continuously joined at each end thereof. In parallel with this, the right and left sleeves situated at each side of the body are each knitted into a tubular form and shifted to the body side, so that the sleeves and the body are overlapped and joined together in a joining region extending from the underarm to the shoulder.
The sleeves and the body are joined together to have a proper angle xcex8 formed by the sleeve and the body joined together (hereinafter it is referred to as xe2x80x9cthe sleeve attaching anglexe2x80x9d). This sleeve attaching angle xcex8 can be adjusted by changing a course number ratio between the sleeve and the body after the start of knitting of joining together the sleeve and the body. With reference to FIGS. 12A and 12B, the knitting method of adjusting the sleeve attaching angle xcex8 will be described. FIG. 12A shows the knitting sequence for the process of joining together the sleeves and the body. FIG. 12B shows sweater 101 whose sleeves and body are joined together in accordance with the knitting sequence of FIG. 12A. The line Wxe2x80x94W represents the boundary between a front fabric comprising a right front sleeve 105a, a front body 103 and a left front sleeve 107a and a back fabric comprising a right back sleeve 105b, a back body 103b and a left back sleeve 107b. 
In the knitting method of FIG. 12, a single yarn feeder is used for knitting both of the front fabric and the back fabric. In the course 111, after the yarn is continuously fed to the right front sleeve 105a and the front body 103a, the right front sleeve 105a and the left front sleeve 107a are shifted to the body, respectively, to be joined to the front body. Sequentially, in the courses 113-117, the knitting that whenever the front fabric is knitted in one course, the right front sleeve 105a and the left front sleeve 107a are shifted to and joined to the front body 103a is repeated five times. In the course 119, after the front body 103a and the left front sleeve 107a are continuously knitted, the right front sleeve 105a and the left front sleeve 107a are shifted to the front body 103a, so that the sleeves and the front body are joined together. Then, the knitting goes on to the knitting of the back fabric. In the course 121, after the left back sleeve 107b and the back body 103b are continuously knitted, the right back sleeve 105b and the left back sleeve 107b are shifted to the body, respectively, to be joined to the back body. Sequentially, in the courses 123-127, the knitting that whenever the back fabric is knitted in one course, the right back sleeve 105b and the left back sleeve 107b are shifted to and joined to the back body 103b is repeated five times. In the course 129, after the back body 103b and the right back sleeve 105b are continuously knitted, the right back sleeve 105b and the left back sleeve 107b are shifted to the body, so that the sleeves and the back body are joined together. The sleeve attaching angle xcex8 varies depending on the course number ratio of the sleeve to the body after the start of the joining knit to join together the sleeve and the body. As the course number ratio of the body to the sleeve is increased, the sleeve attaching angle xcex8 increases and comes nearer to a right angle. On the other hand, as the course number ratio of the body is reduced, the sleeve attaching angle xcex8 reduces and comes nearer to a parallel with the body.
In the knitting method mentioned above, in the courses 113-117 and 123-127, the knitting of the sleeves 105, 107 is suspended and the knitting to join either of the front and back bodies and the sleeves is continuously performed. During this course knitting, only either of the front knitted fabric and the back knitted fabric is reduced in knitting width. When this knitting wherein the knitting of the sleeves is suspended and the joining knit to continuously join the sleeves and the body of either of the front knitted fabric and the back knitted fabric is repeated five consecutive times, as shown in FIG. 12, the stitches on the edge of the front knitted fabric and the stitches on the edge of the back knitted fabric will be moved away from each other by five stitches. This may cause the problems of causing yarn rupture in the yarn extending between the stitch on the edge of the front knitted fabric and the stitch on the edge of the back knitted fabric, thus interrupting the knitting operation and of generating in the knitwear an undesirable knitted line to significantly spoil the commercial value of the product. If the sleeves are not knitted but are shifted to and joined to the body repeatedly, in order to bring the sleeve attaching angle xcex8 closer to right angle, then the same stitch will be transferred over and over again by the time the knitting of the sleeves suspended is restarted. As a result of this, the stitch laid over the stitch of the body is strung out. This may cause an undesirable hole in the joining line 109a, 109b along which the sleeves and the body are joined together, to give a dirty-looking to the joining line, or may cause yarn breakage.
Meanwhile, the applicant discloses in JP Laid-open (Unexamined) Patent Publication No. A-2000-256947 the knitting method using an elastic yarn for joining together the sleeves and the body. This knitting method comprises the step that while the sleeves and the body are both knitted, the sleeves are shifted to the body and joined to it; the step that the knitting of the body is suspended, during which the knitting of sleeve caps of the sleeves is continued in a flechage knitting, and then the last course of the sleeves is knitted by using the elastic yarn; and the step that the knitting of the body is restarted, so that the sleeves and the body are joined together along the sleeve caps by transferring stitches whenever a predetermined number of courses of the body are knitted. After these steps, the sleeves and the body are joined together. In this knitting method, since the sleeve caps are knitted into a desired shape in the flechage knitting and since after completion of this flechage knitting, the sleeves are joined to the body along their sleeve caps without knitting the sleeve caps, the shape of the sleeves and the sleeve attaching angle can both be freely set. In addition, since the last course of the sleeves is formed by using the elastic yarn, even when the same stitch is transferred sequentially, there is little fear of causing yarn breakage or stringing out the stitches.
It is the object of the present invention to disclose a knitwear knitting method comprising the step that tubular sleeves are knitted at each side of a tubular body; and the step that the sleeves are shifted to and joined to the body in a joining region in which the sleeves and the body are to be joined together, wherein the knitwear having a good-looking joining line along which the sleeves and the body are joined together can be knitted at any selective sleeve attaching angle. It is another object of the present invention to disclose a knitting method of knitting knitwear that requires no special yarn, such as an elastic yarn, for joining together the sleeves and the body at a large sleeve attaching angle close to right angle.
To solve the problems mentioned above, the present invention provides a method of knitting knitwear, comprising a body knitted into a tubular fabric whose front body and back body are overlapped with each other in front and back; and right and left sleeves situated at each side of the body and each formed into a tubular fabric whose front sleeve and back sleeve are overlapped with each other in front and back, by using a flat knitting machine comprising at least a pair of first and second needle beds each having a number of needles, which are placed opposite in front and back and at least either of which can be racked laterally; yarn feeders for feeding yarn to the needles of the first needle bed and second needle bed; and a cam unit, the method comprising the joining knit step that whenever a predetermined number of courses of the body is knitted in a joining region extending from an underarm to a shoulder, the sleeves are shifted to the body to allow the stitches of the last course of the sleeves to be laid over the stitches of the body, so as to join together the sleeves and the body,
the joining knit step comprising:
a) the step that whenever an adequate number of courses of the front body and the back body are knitted by using different yarn feeders, the right and left sleeves are shifted to the body side and joined together; and
b) the step that when the front body and the back body are knitted by the different feed yarns, respectively, and the yarn is fed to either of the right and left sleeves to form stitches in the next course, split knit is provided for stitches of the front sleeves and back sleeves at side ends thereof on the body side and then each of the split stitches are laid over the stitches of the different courses in the bodies to join together the sleeves and the body.
According to the construction of the present invention, the knitting that the body and the right and left sleeves are each knitted into a tubular form up to underarm; different yarn feeders are used for knitting the front body and the back body in the joining region extending from the underarm to the shoulder; the yarn feeders are reversed in direction at each end of the body to perform the flechage knitting; and whenever an adequate number of courses of the body are knitted, the right and left sleeves are shifted to the body side so the front sleeves and the front body can be overlapped with the back sleeves and the back body to be joined together is taken as unit of repeated knitting operations. In the step 1, this unit of repeated knitting operations is repeated to join together the sleeves and the body. Sequentially, the knitting that when the front body and the back body are knitted by using the different yarn feeders and the yarn is fed to either of the right and left sleeves to form stitches of the next course in the sleeves, the split knit is provided for the stitches of the front and back sleeves at side ends thereof on the body side; one of a split stitch and an added stitch provided by the split knit is laid over the stitch of the body to form the stitch of the next course in the body; and the other of the split stitch and the added stitch is laid over the stitch of the body to form the stitch of the next course in the body is alternately made for the right and left sleeves. This knitting is taken as unit of repeated knitting operations. In the step 2, this unit of repeated knitting operations is repeated to join together the sleeves and the body. Subsequently, the step 1 and the step 2 are repeatedly taken in an alternate order to join together the sleeves and the body.
In the method of knitting knitwear of the present invention, a course number ratio of the sleeve to the body after the start of the joining knit of the sleeve and the body is set so that a course number ratio of the body can be higher than 1:4. This construction of the present invention can produce the knitwear having the sleeves joined to the body at a large sleeve attaching angle.